Main dealer #1- 15 miles away - £450+VAT = £540
Main Dealer #2 - 30 miles away - £450 in VAT
Main Dealer #3 - 55 miles away - £320 inc VAT
It pays to phone around.
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It is reasonably obvious why would charge more for a service; you want more profit and you think you can get it.
It is less clear why one would charge less for a service. Especially that much less. A lack of other selling points, perhaps.
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Wow - what's in a first service? For most cars it's a look around and an oil/filter change.
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A first service at the supplying dealer for my MX-5 is £199. I phoned around and got it for £147.
The electronic service record lists jobs completed as 'body check' and 'renewal of oil and oil filter'.
Second service now due, I will phone for a price again.
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Main dealer #1- 15 miles away - £450+VAT = £540 - 1 mile from City Centre - Glass Palace
Main Dealer #2 - 30 miles away - £450 in VAT - prosperous farming area
Main Dealer #3 - 55 miles away - £320 inc VAT - market town in a poorer farming area
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One of the things that faintly annoy me is the manufacturer offering services and parts at specific prices which aren't honoured by the dealer. Ford did this to me a week or two ago.
Ford UK website gives a schedule of parts and prices, a statement that it will cost x including fitting, a postcode checker, a list with your local dealer on and a contact number. Then you ring the local dealer and they deny all knowledge of any such price, and want more money, and then want to add fitting on top.
Toyota did that to me as well with a service price, but unlike Ford, the service desk went to the web page I was quoting, said she'd never heard of or seen such a thing before, but honoured the price.
The Ford dealer said push off, not honouring that, don't care what Ford UK say, even if they do give our name as a dealer offering this.
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Volvo have an offer of £599 for five years servicing, of which I took advantage. Honda have a similar offer.
How can Rover dealers justify the price?
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>> Volvo have an offer of £599 for five years servicing, of which I took advantage.
>> Honda have a similar offer.
Something similar is available for both the Roomster and 'lingo. Payment is by instalments. Might have taken advantage when commuter rail fares were stressing me financially in last couple of years in Civil Service.
These days I'll just pay as I go.
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Some JLR dealers have a sneaky habit of only stocking the highest spec oil required by JLR products. So even if your particular engine doesn't need it you end up paying for the ridiculously expensive super-dooper custom synthetic 'with added unobtainium, designed for supercharged engines' oil. They also charge the top-whack price per litre (£15 to £20) that you woud expect to pay if you bought multiple 1 litre bottles. With labour plus VAT, an oil and filter change alone is well into three figures.
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>>Main Dealer #3 - 55 miles away - £320 inc VAT - market town in a poorer farming area
Yet still able to afford a new Discovery so not *that*poor.
It is only just over 50% of the price. There'll be more to it than 55 miles.
But hey, your money your choice.
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Service 1 on the Shogun was about £500 - largest chunk was for checking the valve clearances which needed a bit of disassembly above the valve cover.
Service 2 and 3 were relative cheapos at about £250.
9 litres of C3 (low ash for the DPF) synthetic oil was 80 or 90 quid of the bill.
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The first service on the M140i was £325, which I got down to £300 by purchasing a 3 year service plan. Even though it will only cover the first service due to the cleverly set mileage limit, it still saved me £25. The service was oil, filter and pollen filter (or Microfilter in BMW marketing spiel)
The Microfilter on its own is £56 to buy, and the oil filter element is £15.
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I discovered VW Commercial vehicles for my service work, they still can do car work and you get a vw stamp but the hourly rate is considerably lower. Ok, mine is located on an industrial complex but the customer experience is back to how it used to be 10 years ago where the technicians actually come and talk to you and allow you 'backstage' to see your car being worked on if you want.
Although for some things they do still stick to VWs fixed price servicing.
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Land Rover - Discovery - How much is the 1st Service? - No FM2R
